Snow survey brings good news for water supply

Important water source for San Diego County

Sacramento  The first official snow survey of 2013 was upbeat, measuring 134 percent of normal.

And that’s important for San Diego County, given the Sierra snowpack provides between about a third and a half of the region’s supplies depending on the year.

Water managers are quick to warn that it’s crucial for storms to keep rolling in during the make-or-break months of January and February.

“There’s a lot of winter left,” said Bob Yamada, water resources manager for the San Diego County Water Authority, the region’s wholesaler. “It doesn’t change the need to be vigilant about water use.”

Good years can quickly turn dry.

“It can easily shut down,” said Frank Gehrke, who led the state’s snow survey team.

Earlier electronic readings actually were more optimistic, coming in at 146 percent of normal. But Wednesday’s measurements, which include some by hand, are considered more accurate and combine various locations.

Nevertheless, the numbers are welcome, particularly since even if it did not snow again the cumulative amount would still equal 49 percent of the average for April.

Also, the early storms have replenished the state’s primary reservoirs. Lake Oroville is at 71 percent of capacity, or 113 percent of average for this date. Shasta Lake, headwaters of the federal water delivery network, is at 73 percent of capacity, or 115 percent of normal for Jan. 3.

In contrast, the first snow survey of 2012 came in at 19 percent of normal. The water year closed in the spring of 2012 at just 40 percent of normal.

The state avoided any major shortages thanks to brimming reservoirs that had been filled by two-straight years of above-average snowfall in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

The state’s water project serves 25 million Californians and delivers irrigation water more than 1 million acres for farmland.